In many nations prior to WWII, there was a fascination with submarine-borne aircraft. The requirements for such an aircraft were many in that it had to be small, yet have decent range. It had to be easily assembled and disassembled for it was not possible to carry it ready-to-fly. These limitations made it technically challenging to design such an aircraft, yet the benefit of having it for reconnaissance was quite tantalizing.

Only the Japanese were able to properly implement the idea. This had as much to do with the penchant for building large submarines as anything. These boats had the displacement to accommodate the water-tight hangars needed to stow these aircraft and carry the specialized crews needed to fly and maintain/repair the plane. Large though these submarines might have been, they were also noisy and slow to maneuver, submerge and surface, traits that later in the war led to many of their losses.

In this latest book by Mushroom Model Publications, we look at what was probably the most successful of the Japanese submarine-borne aircraft the E14Y Glen. The book starts out by providing us a history of the concept, which dates back to WWI. This includes attempts by the Germans to use a submarine to carry a small plane to attack British targets. Post war, Ernst Heinkel developed a plane for the US Navy that was tested, but never put into use. It was the Japanese who had the greatest interest in the type and went the extra steps to develop boats to carry the planes and aircraft to fit.

The development of submarine-borne aircraft is fully covered and very well researched. The E14Y was not the first plane to be used for this purpose as the Watanabe E9W1 'Slim' was the first successful plane. This sturdy biplane was used to develop equipment and tactics that were used during the war. The Glen was the next, updated version that had many improvements over the Slim, including being a monoplane, thus easier to erect for flight. The full development of the E9 and E14 are covered, including scale plans and many large and superbly drawn color four views.

There is a full operational diary of all known combat operations using the E14Y, most of them taking place in the first year of the war. This includes the bombing of the US, which is covered in considerable detail. While most know that these bombs fell harmlessly into the forests, the fact is that this was the plan. It was felt that using incendiary bombs would start raging forest fires that would decimate thousands of acres and inflict much damage. Unfortunately, the Japanese picked a rather wet time of the year to do this, so while the missions went on without a hitch, the expected results did not happen.

Other books in this series have a large section on detail for the aircraft. Thanks to there not being any museum aircraft, this is done by period photos as well as images from blueprints and maintenance manuals. The only extant aircraft are two that are in the hold of a sunken freighter at Kwajelein. This book provides several pages of images of these aircraft taken byDan Farnham, who resides on Kwajelein. I seriously doubt if these remains will be salvaged as 70 years underwater has left little aside from the framework.

MMP has a deserved reputation for providing superbly researched and usable books that are a delight for both the enthusiast and modeler. This one has raised that bar another notch in terms of the amount of research done and the sheer wealth of information that has been provided on what is to many, a pretty obscure, yet historically important aircraft. It is an absolute must have for any modeler and a book that gets my highest recommendation.

December 2012